Genuine Colchicum
Genuine Colchicum (#FBBBFC) is a soft violet with a pastel character. It reads calm and airy, with enough chroma to feel intentional rather than washed out. Its HSL profile (299°, 92%, 86%) places it in the highly saturated band at a light lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary green. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
Latin genuinus, natural, innate — used as a color modifier since the sixteenth century for hues that read as authentic rather than imitated. Genuine indigo, genuine ochre: moderate-to-high saturation combined with the optical impression of a hue from real pigment rather than synthetic dye. Sits at the crisp-bucket alongside true and honest.
Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) — a Colchicaceae bulb native to Colchis (modern Georgia) whose deep-violet six-tepalled corolla emerges leafless in late autumn, named for the home of Medea. Colchicum color refers to a fully opened Colchicum autumnale corolla on a Cotswold meadow: a saturated, slightly cool deep violet with the velvet finish of fresh six-tepalled chalice-corolla. The plant is the source of colchicine, used to treat gout.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.